Berkeley plans to put a beehives into every middle school

Beekeepers Anthony Fontaine (L) and Eric Rocher inspect their new hives at King Middle School’s Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley on Dec. 5, 2012. Fontaine built the hive out of recycled woods. They will manage the hive for the school garden. Photo: Mary Flaherty

By Mary Flaherty

A new initiative, spearheaded by Berkeley’s Edible Schoolyard Project, aims to put beehives in the city’s three middle schools by next spring.

King Middle School’s one-acre garden, home to the Edible Schoolyard, has already jumped in having acquired a hive of Russian bees six weeks ago, under a program the organizers named Bee Experimental Education in Schools (BEES).

The idea, said Edible Schoolyard Director Kyle Cornforth, is to extend King’s existing hands-on gardening and cooking education to include learning about pollination.